Race Coverage

Blank & Heiney....

Wednesday, 27 July 2016 00:10

TOUGHMAN SPRINT - The wetsuitless swim may have added minutes to the times of those doing the half IM, but it appeared to have had little impact on the sprinters, who only had to swim 400 meters.

Nicole Heininger (photo) successfully defended her 2015 title by leading from the get-go. Her small gap after the swim grew to an insurmountable one after the 22-mile bike portion. Though Diane Hankee, who has 28 career multisport wins and has been racing like a banshee in 2016, outran Heiney by more than a 30-seconds a mile over the closing 5K, it wasn't nearly enough to close the gap. Diane's 1:23:00 would rank as the 5th fastest women's time in the 11-year history of the sprint--only pros Heather Lendway (twice) and Lauren Goss, and now Nicole Heininger--had gone faster.

Heiney's time was ridiculous--1:21:24--and good enough to land her in 8th place overall. The win was, according to our records, the ninth of her young career. And though she has relocated to the Southwest, she has raced often enough, and well enough, in Minnesota to be eligible for post-season award consideration and a spot on Team Minnesota.

Nicole's and Diane's performances were awesome, but no awesomer than the effort turned in by 3rd placing Julia Weisbecker, 50 (photo R), who's 1:28:24 demolished her AG's race record.

Josh Blankenheim lived up to his pre-race favorite billing. He outsplit the men's field on the bike and run en route to a 1:15:50, a time bettered only by pros Dan Hedgecock (1:13:50 - 2014) and Devon Palmer (1:14:14 - 2012), and future pro Patrick Parish (1:15:17 - 2010).

Blank has always rocked socks at Toughman Sprint. His record here features Sunday's victory, two 2nds (2010, 2009), and two 3rds (2009, 2007).

As impressive as was Josh's performance, it was not a runaway. Runner-up Matthew Liebsch, a world class Nordic skier and occasional triathlete, finished only 22 seconds behind the winner. His splits, especially his race leading swim, kept him in Blank's rearview mirror for most of the race. It also kept him comfortably in front of eventual bronze medalist Corey Towle.

Here are the Top 10s and AG winners:

1. Josh Blankenheim, 36, Duluth - 1:15:50, 2, Matthew Liebsch, 33, Orono - 1:16:12, 3. Corey Towle, 29, St. Louis Park - 1:17:34. 4. Eric Hendrickson, 36, Hopkins - 1:17:43, 5. Andy Hardt, 25, Mt. Kisco, NY/Northfield, MN - 1:19:08, 6. Emmanuele Darne, 45, Woodbury - 1:20:58, 7. Mitchell Clayton, 19, Forest Lake - 1:21:07, 8. Nicole Heininger, 27, White Bear Lake - 1:21:24, 9. Mike Ladendorf, 34, Farmington - 1:22:09, 10. Ryan White, 25-29, Minneapolis - 1:22:47.

1. Nicole Heininger, 27, White Bear Lake - 1:21:24, 2. Diane Hankee, 39, Lino Lakes - 1:23:00, 3. Julia Weisbecker, 50, Mendota Heights - 1:28:24, 4. Kathy Grady, 50, Sioux Falls, SD - 1:29:10, 5. Amy Borden, 31, Minneapolis - 1:30:33. 6. Joyce Bourassa, 48, Lakeville - 1:31:20, 7. Katherine Lenglet, 28, Shoreview - 1:32:53, 8. Sarah Hoffman, 33, Crystal - 1:33:52, 9. Sara Conrad, 35-39, Minneapolis - 1:33:55, 10. Joacquie Nordwall, 35-39, Shoreview - 1:35:14.

00-19 - Mitchell Clayton - 1:21:07 & Rachel Nelson - 1:43:11, 40-44 - Mark Senkowski (MD) - 1:26:56 & Nicole Hola (CO) - 1:35:42, 45-49 - Emannuele Darne - 1:20:58 & Joyce Bourassa - 1:31:20, 50-54 - Dennis Rosemark - 1:39:16 & Julia Weisbecker - 1:28:24, 55-59 - Tim Brown - 1:29:51 & Mary Edelman - 1:47:24, 60-64 - Jim Lawrence (WI) - 1:50:48 & Susan Holt - 1:52:03, 65-69 - Rick Rovang (SD) - 1:40:40 & Lindsay Nauen - 3:07:12, 70-74 - Don Snyder - 2:05:11, 90-94 - Bob Powers - 3:41:22.